Starch



25 the granules appear Patented July, 19,1938

s'rARci-ir ml Kesler, Cedar Rapids, Iowagassignorto Penick & For d,Ltd., Incorporated,;-a-oorpora-. W

7 tion ,of, Delaware:

Thisinventlonrelatesto starch, and more particularl y to a cooked, orpartially cooked, starch,

which has been 'heated in the presence of certaindisintegration-inhibitors, and has thereby acquired new properties whichadapt it especially for certain uses.

An object of the invention is'to provide a new starch product havingcharacteristics which will s be described fully hereinafter, and amethod for while, at the same time, the bulk of the granules I remain asindividual or non-disintegrated granules. The granules do have, however,a slight or incipient gelatinization making them capable of :a limitedbonding action. Under the microscope, to be greatly swollen andapparently the beta amylose or inner portion of I the granule hasswollen along with the alpha amylose and stretched the granule to, ornear, its bursting point. The swollen granules have the new property ofremaining suspended in concentrations at which an ordinary starchsuspension would settle out. When the granules are heated with water inhigh concentrations, they become somewhat crumbly as the criticaltemperature .is

reached, and may be readily dried by means of the ordinary dryinequipment employed in starch plants for drying uncooked or unmodifiedstarch. The dried starch may be ground in a mill to form a mealy,non-lustrous, fine powder;

40 To produce the above described product, I have found the followingmethod satisfactory. Starch is added to water in any suitableconcentration, say, for example, a fifty percent concentration. A ratherhigh concentration has the advantage,

in that an extensive evaporation is not necessary -when the product islater dried and a smaller 1 amount of inhibitor is required.

To prevent disintegration of the starch granules during the heatingoperation and while the granules are swelling, I add a suitableinhibitor.

Various inhibitors, suitable for preventing the premature breaking up ofthe starch granules at gelatinizing temperatures, may be employed. Forexample, soaps, such as sodium salts of the acids obtained fromfatsandvegetable oils may be emis experienced in obtaining the desired productI granules remain ployed." Also, fsulphonated t'allows, .solubleioils(sulphonated vegetable 'oils) and sulphonated alcohols, may be used.Otherequivalents may obviously beused. l

.The amounts of the inhibitors added will, of

"course, vary 'with the type of; inhibitor employed.

For "example, with soaps, we have foundthat percentages varying from onepercent tothirty percent; and higher, may be used.. Greater diflicultywhen only one percent is employed. With two percent, we have obtainedgood results. Percentages varying'from ten to thirty percent maybeundesirable because of the large amount of soap left in the finishedproduct. ii

The proper percentage of the inhibitor can be readily determined byobserving the character of theproduct during the heating operation.

The amount of inhibitor, the temperature to which the material isheated, and the concentra- 20 tion, are all inter-related, and avariation in one will be found to require changes in the otherconditions.

The temperature of the starch should be raised until the granules haveswollen and become en- 25 larged, so that their crosses havedisappeared, while, at the same time, the great bulk of the asindividual or non-disintegrated granules. It will ordinarily benecessary to. heat the material'tothe temperature. required 30. togelatinize the particular type of starch used,

such complete gelatinization, however, being prevented in this instanceby the presence of the inhibitor. As soon as the granules have losttheir crosses, while still remaining as individual gran- 35 ules, Idiscontinue the heating and recover the product'for use. The product maybe used in its wet state, or it may be dried and re-used by wetting itwith water. i

It will benoted that in the practice of my in- 40 vention, the heatingand treatment of the starch l is discontinued before the bulk of thegranules disintegrates, for when the latter condition occurs. the starchbecomes substantially gelatinized and does not have the characteristicsand properties 45 of my above-mentioned product. Such gelatinized starchcannot be dried in ordinary drying equipment used in starch factoriesfor drying unmodified starch.

A specific example of my new method may be 50 etc). The temperature ofthe mass is raised to 55 structure and new characteristics.

from to 190 F. and preferably to 185 Ff In the specific apparatusemployed, it required about two hours to reach this temperature. Whenthe above temperature was reached, the product had the desiredcharacteristics already described and heating was discontinued.

In the specific illustration given, I found that the product was, unlikeordinary or unmodified cooked starch, vvery well adapted for drying inordinary equipment. The product was dried in p a vacuum dryer, althoughit could have been dried satisfactorily in kilns, etc.

For tapioca starch, I heat from 160 to F. and preferably to 180 F.

It will be understood that the above specific example is applicable to aspecific starch. When dilierent starches are treated, it will be obviousto others skilled in the art that changes should The foregoing detaileddescription has been given for clearness of understanding only, and nounnecessary limitations should Ibe understood therefrom, but theappended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible, in viewof the prior art. V.

I claim:

1. The method of forming a starch product, comprising: heating, inwater, raw starch in the presence of a disintegration-inhibitor.to atemperature sumcient to distend the granules until their crossesdisappear when observed with crossed Nieois, and discontinuing saidheating before the bulk of said granules have disintegrated.

2. The method of forming a dry starch product, comprising; heating, inwater, starch granules in the presence of a disintegration-inhibitoruntil the crosses of said granules have disappeared as observed throughcrossed Nicols, but discontinuing said heating before substantialdisintegration of the granules occurs, and drying the granules.

3. A starch product which in dried form consists of somewhat enlargedgranules, the crosses of which have disappeared as observed throughcrossed Nicol's, and which upon wetting swell to substantially enlargedgranules, this product in ground form and suspended having the propertyof remaining suspended in concentrations at which unmodified starchgranules would settle out.

4. Starch consisting of a mass of enlarged granules, the crosses ofwhich have disappeared, as observed through crossed Nicols, the bulk ofsaid granules remaining as individual granules.

' CARL c. xnsma.

